CHAPTER V - November (The End)

They found him just after six on the morning of November the first.

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A search officer saw something white beside the entrance to Gallows Hollow. At first she thought it was a plastic bag caught against the stone post.

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Then it moved.

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Arvin was lying on his side in his ghost costume, one hand hooked around the handle of his bucket.

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The officer knelt beside him and spoke into her radio.

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“We've found him. He's alive.”

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He opened his eyes when she touched his shoulder.

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“Mum?”

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“She's coming. Can you tell me your name?”

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He told her.

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“Good boy. My name's Anna. We're going to get you warm.”

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As she wrapped her jacket around him, another officer walked through the entrance.

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He stopped so suddenly that Anna looked up.

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Beyond the posts, the town was dark.

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Boards covered the nearest windows. A gutter had fallen across a doorstep. Weeds grew through the square where Arvin had played, and one side of the biscuit house had collapsed.

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There were no pumpkins.

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Along the road outside the houses, elderly men and women hung from the trees, their arms loose and their shoes clear of the ground.

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The second officer took a step back.

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Then he told Anna to keep the boy facing away.

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───※ 🎃 𝖧𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗈𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗇 🎃 ※─── 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp202efQfNE

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His mother arrived before the ambulance.

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She ran the last few yards and dropped to her knees. Arvin tried to explain that he had only meant to knock at one more house, but she was holding him so tightly that the words came out against her coat.

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“I'm sorry,” he said.

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“Don't. Just let me hold you.”

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He could hear his baby sister crying in the car.

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“Did you find me yesterday?” he asked.

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Mum pulled back enough to look at him.

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“We've been looking all night.”

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“But before that.”

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She touched his face.

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“What do you mean?”

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He looked towards the gate. An officer was stretching tape between the posts.

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“The pumpkin lady said you came.”

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Mum held him close again.

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───※ 🎃 𝖧𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗈𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗇 🎃 ※───

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Anna waited with him while the ambulance crew checked him over. His mother went a few steps away to answer a police officer's questions, looking back at him every few seconds.

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“Was there anyone else with you?” Anna asked.

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“Lots of people.”

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“Did someone bring you here?”

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Arvin shook his head.

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“I followed the pumpkins.”

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She glanced towards the entrance, then back at him.

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“Do you remember any names?”

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“Mrs Bell. And Arthur. He had a witch's hat.”

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Anna wrote them down.

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Behind her, two officers were speaking quietly.

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Most of the families had moved out when the mill closed.

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A few older residents had stayed. By the winter before last, the town had been listed as empty.

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Nearly two years.

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Nobody at the ambulance said anything when Arvin asked whether that was a long time.

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He opened his bucket.

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“She gave me this.”

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Inside was a piece of pumpkin cake wrapped in a clean white napkin. A little cream had soaked into the paper.

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Anna looked at it.

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Then she looked beyond the gate again.

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“Don't eat that just yet,” she said.

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───※ 🎃 𝖧𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗈𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗇 🎃 ※─── 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJAzT3ypMS

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They carried Arvin to the ambulance.

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From there, he could see over the strip of police tape. He looked for Mrs Bell's house, but he couldn't tell which one it was anymore.

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Then he saw the apron.

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It hung beneath a dark coat at the edge of the trees. Tiny orange pumpkins covered the fabric. Near the bottom, one had an eye coming unstitched.

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Arvin lifted his hand.

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The woman didn't wave.

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“Is someone coming for her too?” he asked.

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His mother followed his gaze and gently turned his face towards her.

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“Look at me, sweetheart.”

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He did.

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But while she helped him onto the ambulance bed, he kept one hand pressed against his cheek, where the apron had wiped away his tears. 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdVIlkLOBF

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───※ 🎃 𝖧𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗈𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗇 🎃 ※─── 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2odHLyFYrs

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At home, Mum put his costume in the wash and brought him toast with butter right up to the edges.

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He ate every bit.

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Later, he asked her to take the pumpkin off the doorstep.

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She did it without asking why.

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That afternoon, Anna came to return his bucket. The cake was gone. The police had kept it in a separate bag.

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Mum left the bucket on the kitchen table while she spoke to Anna at the door.

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Arvin sat beside it.

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He tipped it over to make sure it was empty.

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Two sweets fell out.

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One was a mint.

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The other had a wrapper stuck tightly to it.

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Both were warm.

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───※ 🎃 𝖧𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗈𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗇 🎃 ※─── 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxl8m1EGRE5

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ONE MORE HALLOWEEN 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPv3z2ceXXi

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There was always room for one more. 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xuppgNUHz

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It was the same village. Only the welcome was gone. 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7WapT7nop

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───※ 🎃 𝖧𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗈𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗇 🎃 ※─── 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8uInGaJAV

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The End of Story 5

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